DDbasser

Oh man!!!! no thats harsh!!! LOL LBH, that is a neat idea. I never thought about tagging bass. Here in Ok, they have tagged a bunch of spoonbill (paddlefish) in order to track their movements.

Ben, I'm not positive about the rpm's. I'll know a lot more tomorrow, I'm going to the dealership where I bought the boat, one of the salesmen said he would give me some tips on a lake that I'm going to fish this weekend. I've got several questions to ask them about the performance on my boat.

Ben, I'm running right around 4800 rpm wide open. Red line is around 5500 I think, theres no redline mark on the tach. The motor has a 3 blade SS prop but it's not a custom prop.

I've learned so much this year that I don't even know where to begin. I didn't bass fish much until about mid April of this year. I grew up fishing for everything that swims, but was never very good at catching bass in lakes, I could catch them all day long in ponds. I've learned the difference between cover and structure. I've learned to differentiate between productive and non-productive water. And probably the the most important thing I've learned is how to fish a jig and use several different techniques and presentations with them. I'm still learning to read and interpret my sonar. I'm still learning bass behavior and habits. I'm still learning boat control. I'll be learning from now until the day I quit fishing for bass.

Thanks for the info Ben. After reading your post I'm not sure I need a jackplate. My hole shot is good and I'm running about 62mph which is plenty fast enough for me. I plan on buying a different boat in a couple years, so the expense may not be worth the gain.

I've been a member since July 6th. And I spend about 3 hrs a day here. Does that make me an addict??? : The people on this forum rock!!! You all have made my learning curve a lot shorter than it would have been had I not found this place. Glenn you are doing an awesome job, thanks for such a great site!!

Welcome to the forums!!! I usually grab them by the bottom jaw with a pair of pliers, then remove the hook with my other hand. Sometimes it takes 2 pairs of pliers, one to hold the fish and one to remove the hook. The smart_ bass answer would be very carefully!!LOL :

My wifes little brother used to use a spinning reel like that. One day I asked him why and he said that he couldn't reel with his left hand, I showed him how to change the handle over to the other side, now he uses it the way it's supposed to be used. I've seen people use the can reel below Keystone dam here in NE Oklahoma, they catch a ton of sandbass that way.

Even though it wasn't the batteries fault, they should still be under warranty. I use everstart batteries I put 3 new ones in the boat right after I bought it, and no problems!!

RITFLMAO!!!! ;D That might be a little important!!!! although, I have hard of it happening. one other thing to check if applicable Trailer brakes.

HaaHaaHaaHaa!!!! RITFLMAO!!!!!! I think I saw that picture at the post office!

Do the adhesive strips stick really well? or do you use the screws? Also, in the summer does it get hot enough in the storage compartments to melt any of your plastics? I really like the looks of that system, I'd like to install one for my plastics.

Welcome aboard. The wife and I just started bass fishing this summer, we're going to join the His and Her bass club this winter and fish their tourny's next year. My wife says bass fishing is ok but she prefers to crappie fish, er I mean crappie catch. She doesn't have much patient when they aren't biting. Good luck!!!!

rebbasser, keep your eyes on Academy the gentleman in the hunting department said they were going to be having one of their 2 for 1 sales sometime this fall but could'nt give me exact dates.

Great idea!!!! Something like this?? The BaitMonkey made me do it!!! Raul???

I never get behind the wheel of my boat without first putting on my life jacket and then clipping my kill switch on. Now, that being said. A friend of mine that used to fish bass tourny's had an idiot on a waverunner cut across in front of him and he had to cut the wheel hard to keep from running over the guy. When he did he slid out from behind the wheel, he only had one hand on the wheel the other on the throttle, his kill switch came unplugged like it's supposed to but it didn't kill the engine. I also always check my kill switch before pulling the boat off the trailer.

Welcome!!!!! Looking forward to reading your posts.

onewyr, Welcome!!!! Theres a ton of info in the articles section. I'd have to agree with rebbasser, you'll get a 1oo different answers from 100 different fishermen. And what works for some in certain situations may not work for someone else. The best advice I've been given is to spend time fishing with different lures and presentations and NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!

BaitMonkey strikes again!!!! > I went to Academy this morning to pick up some watermelon colored jigs for this weekend. : Well, they had all their fishing rods on sale I'm over there looking through the rods and my wife (baitmonkey in disguise) comes up and says oooh honey their Falcon lowriders are on sale. Haven't you been wanting one of those??? ??? Yeah I said but I need so much other stuff too, well go ahead and get one you deserve it you work so hard for your money, go ahead and treat yourself. :-/ Man this is tough, but hey someone has to do it!!!LOL ;D

I read that article too, and it left me kinda confused. I mean no trip ever goes just like you planned it. And the fish very seldom do what you expect. And as for getting pumped up and excited over a trip, when I quit doing that I'll quit fishing!!!! I did take some things from that article though, It is possible to have your expectations too high and in doing so get stuck on one lure or presentation and not be able to adapt. Don't ever get so caught up in planning to fish with one method that you fail to recognize when to change it up!!

Thanks for the info Ben. I plan on letting Nicholes marine set up everything for me. Thats where I bought the boat and those guys are awsome to work with.

I never thought about that!!!

I let the fish dictate the speed at which I fish plastics. Sometimes they want it real slow, but other times they want a little faster moving bait. I'll cast to a target and try various retrieves untill the fish hits, if after several presentations to my target I don't get bit, I'll try a different lure or assume that no one is home at the time. The best day I've had this year was in early May, it was post cold front conditions and the fish were holding tight to woodcover that had lots of weeds around it, this lake was fairly shallow with a ton of weeds around the shoreline that came out 50 to 100 yds in some places . I fished a Gene Larew salt craw for 2 hours and caught only 1 small bass. Then I remembered something I had read in a magazine about deadsticking plastics. I changed to a Zoom fluke and started deadsticking the lure, on my firts cast I nailed a 2 1/2 lber. I let that bait set in one spot for about a minute and when I went to move it the fish was just there, I never felt it hit. Now, take last weekend, I was fishing a fairly deep, clear lake that has a ton of spotted bass in it. I started off fishing real slow and couldn't get bit. I moved to a pretty good stair step drop off and was just lifting my rod tip to let the worm fall from one shelf to the next and the bass were hitting it on the fall.

Jig and pig is my biggest weakness, but i'm starting to overcome it. I caught my first bass on a jig last weekend, actually ended up catching 3 bass on a jig. I would have to say that crankbaits are my second weakness. I have confidence in them I just can't bring myself to throw them very often in the lakes I fish for fear of losing them. And I haven't even started trying to use a dropshot rig yet.

Well, I'll have to get with my dealer and see what they can do for me on the jackplate. My boats no speed demon she runs 62mph with just me my gear and a full tank. It would be nice to get her up close to 70mph.